Blue Jays drop series finale to Astros
After a big first inning, the Blue Jays appeared all set to bring some fireworks to their July 4 tilt against the Houston Astros.
Instead, the rest of the game played out all too familiarly for Toronto, which was unable to keep its offence rolling past a wild start in a 5-3 loss to Houston.
The series-finale loss drops the Blue Jays to nine games below .500 (39-48) and farther away from evening their win-loss record than they have been all season.
Starting pitcher Chris Bassitt said his approach is unwavering as the team embarks upon a nine-game road swing beginning Friday.
“Just win tomorrow,” he said. “That’s it. If you’re starting to think about all the other stuff, it does not help anything. Like there’s no benefit to thinking about it, so just win tomorrow, make it simple. Anything else I think is the wrong answer.”
Toronto finishes the season with two wins in seven games against Houston (45-42) after losing two of three on the road in May and three of four now at home.
Bassitt, whose record dropped to 7-7 with the loss, was on the mound for the top half of a see-saw first inning in which the teams combined for six runs, eight hits and 10 baserunners.
The paid attendance for the matinee was 38,234 as the Blue Jays wrapped an eight-game homestand at 3-5.
Jays manager John Schneider said the team has been speaking for a few days about resetting for the upcoming road trip, which includes three games apiece in Seattle, San Francisco and Arizona.
“You’ve got to pick yourself up and rest on the plane and get ready for another big series,” he said. “There’s no giving up, there’s no quitting. It was not an ideal homestand for sure, (but) nothing you can do about it now. You’ve got to look forward to tomorrow in Seattle and then keep going.”